Embrace the Chaos
by Serpent In Red
Summary: This was a horrible idea. The moment Ami Mizuno heard it, she should've put her foot down and said "no". Not to mention that it should've occurred to her what a terrible idea it was because it had come from none other than one Minako Aino. She really should've taken a leaf out of Rei's book and said "no" every time Minako opened her mouth.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N** : Written for the Senshi & Shitennou Mini Bang 2018. Many thanks to the wonderful smokingbomber for making the cover art! Huge, huge thanks to my betas, smokingbomber and minakosaino, who had to put up with chaos of had/has/have :D. Many hugs to those who are still waiting for updates on my other stories and to those who are still waiting for review replies. I'll get to them ... one of these days. *hides*

Replies to anonymous reviews can be found in the last chapter of this story. :)

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

This was a bad idea.

Actually, scratch that. This was a **_horrible_ **idea. The moment Ami Mizuno heard it, she should've put her foot down and said "no". Not to mention that it should've occurred to her what a terrible idea it was because it had come from none other than one Minako Aino. She really should've taken a leaf out of Rei's book and said "no" every time Minako opened her mouth.

She had no idea what had come over her for her to listen to the blonde. Seriously, if she hadn't known better, she would've thought that Minako had placed some kind of spell on her.

"You have to go, Ami-chan. It's your chance to show him what a fun and wild person you can be," Minako had said.

"But I'm _not_ a wild person," Ami had argued.

Waving a perfectly manicured hand in the air, Minako had brushed off her words and countered her by saying, "The key is to let him _believe_ you're a wild person. The only reason he'd been monitoring your every move is because he's certain that you're such a goody-goody two-shoes and would rat him out to the authorities when he uses his position to play favorites." She had pinched Ami's mouth to prevent her from explaining. "By showing him that you do, indeed, have a fun side, you'll stop his suspicions. If you want to rat him out once you get evidence that he's a scumbag, by all means. But in the meantime, let's just get him off your back first, yes?"

Rei had looked on with a bored look, though Ami was ninety-six point five three percent certain that she'd seen a look of amusement pass through those violet eyes.

"Amuse her," she'd advised Ami, "or else we'll all have to put up with her whining until after the party." She'd paused before adding, "And if it does work, at least there would be less of a chance of your supervisor catching you when we need you in battle."

Ami supposed that there was some merit to the plan if Rei was backing it up. However, everything afterwards was, in her opinion, a total disaster. When Minako had said "elves", Ami had thought of something along the lines of "Lord of the Rings" elves. She really should've known better.

Standing in front of the door that led to the Halloween party she just couldn't bring herself to walk in, and every five seconds or so, she would subconsciously pull at one of the sky-blue, two-piece chiffon attire she was in. The miniskirt made her feel as if she was always in danger of flashing someone, while the crop top just showed too much skin, barely covering her stomach.

"Mizuno-san, is that you?"

A surprised voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she felt her cheeks warm when she pinpointed it as belonging to a somewhat friendly acquaintance of hers at work, Haruto Kobayashi. Checking one last time to be certain that her clothes were still covering the appropriate parts of her body, she turned around and gave him a shy, embarrassed smile.

"Good evening, Kobayashi-san," she greeted, giving him a bow that was smaller than usual.

She pulled at the hem of her shirt again when she saw his eyes flicker downwards towards her attire.

A pink tinge appeared on his cheeks as he coughed into his hands before commenting, "Um … interesting costume choice."

"Thank you," she replied, though the smile on her face was forced.

She was going to kill Minako.

"So … um … what are you doing out here?" he asked. "Are you waiting for your date?"

"What?" she replied, a blush appearing on her face. "No."

For a moment, she wondered why he would assume that she was waiting for someone, but then she realized that it was quite possible that he thought that she'd wanted to impress her significant other with what she was wearing.

She was going to murder Minako and bury her in a park.

"Oh," Haruto said with a blink. He then smiled brightly at her and said, "Well, then, let's go in then, or else Watanabe-san might think you're looking down on him again."

Her eyes snapped up towards him. "He told you that?"

Haruto's cheeks turned slightly pink again upon hearing her question. "I meant it more as a joke."

She rose her eyebrows. However, she knew she wasn't going to get anything out of Haruto, neither would it be fair for her to drag him into the mess she was in.

Walking through the door, she had to admit that the decorations were impressive. Cobwebs decorated the ceilings, and jack o' lanterns took the place of lamps. However, she couldn't tell if the chandelier hanging over the foyer was new or originally there—she was betting on the latter. A coffin stood at one of the corners with the imitation of a zombie hand creeping out of the crack. Bats flew around in circles in random places, and it took her a moment to realize that they were mostly flying and stopping at the same places, allowing her to conclude that they weren't real.

Her eyes took in the layout, and not for the first time, she wondered where Riku Watanabe had gotten the money from, since she knew for a fact that he hadn't come from a wealthy family. Shoving that thought from her head, she headed towards where she heard the music coming from.

She froze when she walked inside. Haruto had entered after her and was effectively blocking her escape, which she supposed was a good thing, since Minako would probably screech at her if she'd left before saying "hi" to her supervisor. Nonetheless, the urge to run still surged through her as she timidly eyed each person inside the ballroom, mentally taking note of who she knew and who she didn't while searching for any sight of Riku.

"Wow," Haruto said beside her.

Nonetheless, her concentration was hardly on him. Thankfully, she soon located Riku, who was chatting animatedly with someone. She couldn't see what the other man looked like, given that he was standing with his back towards her, except for the fact that he easily towered over Riku, who was already a full head taller than her.

After taking her leave on Haruto, she hurried over towards Riku, wanting to greet and "socialize" with him quickly so that she could leave as soon as possible. However, the room was quite crowded, and by the time she got to where he was standing, she could feel her clothes starting to cling on to her body.

"Good evening, Watanabe-san," she said with a meek smile, her hands still itching to pull at the hem of her skirt and shirt.

Riku turned his head around, and when he realized it was her, the huge smile he had been sporting dwindled down to nearly a sneer.

"Oh, it's you, Mizuno-san," he said airily. His eyes flickered towards her attire before they landed on her face again. "Surprising. I'd almost thought that you would've come here dressed as Albert Einstein."

She wanted to answer that there was nothing wrong with coming here dressed as Albert Einstein, but Minako's voice resounded in her mind.

 _"No arguments. I don't care if he suggests that every Sailor Senshi should be captured and dissected for the sake of experiments, do_ **not** _argue with him."_

She'd wanted to tell Minako that there was no way Riku Watanabe _could_ capture them, but she supposed that that wasn't the point the Venusian Senshi was trying to get across to her.

Therefore, she bit down hard on the inside of her cheeks before saying, "Great party!"

To be honest, the music wasn't to her liking and she hadn't even tried the food yet, but Makoto had suggested that compliments should work.

 _"Lie if you have to."_ That was, of course, what Minako had added.

And apparently, that tactic somewhat worked, since the look on Riku's face visibly relaxed after hearing what she said.

"Hm … and I'd thought that you didn't have the capacity to have fun, Mizuno-san," he said, almost condescendingly. He turned his attention back to the man he'd been talking to before and added, "Perhaps there's hope in her after all."

Ami's eyes landed on the man, and she froze on the spot.

For the past couple of months, the Senshi had been receiving memories of the Silver Millennium. Amongst other undesirable recollections—including but not limited to the Senshi's romances with certain guardians of Endymion—they also remembered how the Shitennou looked like beneath the glamour that hid their civilian identity from others. At that time, Makoto had joked that that was one memory that wasn't needed. Ami couldn't tell if her tone of voice should be categorized as "bitter" or "relieved".

Right now, however, Ami felt that knowing their true looks was perhaps one of the most useful information they'd gained from that disaster.

"A knowledgeable mind always has its uses," the man said. His silver eyes only held a hint of amusement as they slid over to look at Ami while a corner of his lips curved upwards into a faint smile. "At least, if I were the one lying on the surgery table, I would hope that my doctor had regarded soaking up knowledge as superior to having fun."

If Ami wasn't busy gawking at the man— _Kunzite_ , her mind screamed while alarm bells went off in her brain—she would've noticed how Riku froze before a forced grin appeared on his face.

"Oh, yes, definitely! Er … I meant that as a joke, of course, Takayama-san," he said quickly. His eyes flickered between the two before he added tentatively, "Do you know Mizuno-san, Takayama-san?"

The man paused for a short second before answering, "No. I don't."

Riku laughed, a bit too exaggeratedly, as he placed a hand on Ami's shoulder and squeezed. "That's a shame! Well, better late than never! She's one of the most brilliant minds we have at our hospital, and I'm sure she would be honored to become acquainted with someone like Takayama-san!"

Oh yes, she was definitely "honored" to meet someone like him, so honored that she really needed to find a secluded place so that she could check out who this "Takayama-san" was. She was hoping that it was just someone who looked extremely like civilian-form Kunzite.

She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't caught what they had been saying, and she was only snapped out of her reverie when both of them stared at her.

"... I'm sorry. Please excuse me for a second," she said before hurrying away, disregarding the surprised look on Riku's face.

The introspective and calm look on the Kunzite-look-alike's face was much more attention-worthy to her at the moment.

It took her much longer than she would've liked to find some place private enough to find out who this person really was. After walking in on a barely-dressed French maid and Count Dracula swallowing each other's tongue, she refused to check the other rooms with closed doors. Thankfully, she soon found the library (whoever would've thought that Riku had so many books—though it was possible that it was just there for looks).

Locking the door behind her, she sat down in one of the chairs before pulling out her mini-computer.

"Come on," she muttered to herself after she'd entered a few commands.

Though it was much quicker than any electronic devices humans had, it still felt as if it were working much too slowly.

Finally, a whole list of those who were present at the Halloween party popped up, and it took her another couple of seconds to find the name she was looking for. There were a total of four people who had the surname "Takayama", with three of them being male. As if it were some badly scripted movie, the first two names weren't the one she was looking for, and she bit hard into her cheek as she pulled up the stats for "Takayama Kyosuke".

Apparently, he was a patron of the hospital, donating a hefty amount of money each year to different divisions. He also had strong ties with government officials spanning across different countries. No wonder Riku Watanabe groveled to him. Yet, the more she read on, the more suspicious Kyosuke Takayama seemed to her. He was covering up his tracks much too cleanly, as if he were staying in the dark on purpose. If she hadn't seen him at Riku's Halloween party today, she doubted she would've seen him on TV, and that, in and of itself, reminded her a bit too much of the former leader of the Shitennou.

Pressing a few more buttons, she waited as her mini-computer analyzed the aura that surrounded the man, hoping that her paranoia was simply the aftereffects of spending too much time with Rei.

However, the gods weren't so kind to her, and she felt the breath catch in her throat when the results showed quite clearly that there was large energy spike surrounding him, indicating that he was much more different than the other party-goers.

Her heart thudded painfully against her ribcage as she stood up, unable to continue sitting as adrenaline rushed through her.

She needed to think. She needed to find out what to do. Though Beryl and Metallia were no longer around, there was no indications in regards to _why_ the Shitennou were back to life.

She needed to contact the other Senshi.

Tightening her hold around the mini-computer, she was just about to press the "Alert All" button when a voice—a sickeningly familiar voice—resounded throughout the room.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't alert the others to my presence, Mizuno-san."

She froze on the spot as her mind quickly went over her options. However, at that moment, Kyosuke Takayama spoke up again.

"I assure you," he said, "that I mean no harm. I will not attack you unless I am forced to do so."

Slowly, she swiveled around. He stood next to the entrance, with his upper body leaned against the door and his feet crossed at the ankles while he kept his silver eyes trained on her. Though his posture was casual, she couldn't help but feel that he was still on high alert; the tension twisted and turned in the air, filling in the void that existed between them.

His words were an attempt to put her at ease as much as it were a warning, something that hadn't escaped Ami's notice.

Her eyes flickered towards the door momentarily, only to find it closed once more. She remembered quite clearly that she'd locked it after entering the room; it appeared that not only did he possess the powers he'd had as a Shitennou, but he was fully aware of it and knew how to use it.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said slowly, pulling a confused mask over her features.

A corner of his thin lips curved upwards. "Don't you?" He paused for a short second before he tilted his head to one side. "Sailor Mercury?"

Okay, so he had his memories back as well. She couldn't tell if this were a good or bad thing. Given that he hadn't known their true identities while he'd been brainwashed by the Dark Kingdom, perhaps him knowing how she looked like when she wasn't transformed was probably good news. However, it was also possible that there was an even more powerful enemy out there controlling the Shitennou—

"I am not under the control of darker beings, Mizuno-san," Kyosuke said, as if he knew what was going through her mind.

Perhaps he did. After all, she'd always known that he was good at reading people's faces.

"We are not your enemies," Kyosuke said, "if that's what you're worried about." He gestured towards the mini-computer still in her hands. "If you want to be certain, by all means, you can check if I'm in the clear."

She narrowed her eyes slightly before gazing at him straight in the eyes. "The computer can only detect how much negative energy is present in a person under the influence of others."

Something flashed through his eyes, and for a moment, a small streak of satisfaction ripple across her chest, though she kept her face neutral. That little crack in his impeccable façade signified that he acknowledged the underlying message in her words, and her words had hit its intended target.

Though Ami could be kind and gentle, there were lines that should not be crossed.

She could not forget the pain that lingered in the back of Venus's eyes months before Earth declared the Silver Millennium their enemy, nor could she pretend she hadn't noticed how red and puffy Minako's eyes were during that period of time when they were bombarded by memories of the past.

It didn't matter that the Shitennou had ultimately been brainwashed. Months after they'd gotten to known the Princess and the Senshi, weeks before they'd been "reformed" as Metallia and Beryl's soldiers, the seed of doubt had already burrowed itself into their psyche, making them susceptible to the suggestions of the Dark Kingdom.

After Ami had regained her memories of their past lives, there were many nights in which she wondered: By the time the Shitennou were brought over to the Dark Kingdom, were they really being brainwashed? Or was it simply a moment of initiation?

She knew that even if he had been a willing accomplice to Beryl and Metallia in his past life, it wasn't fair for the Senshi to take it against the Shitennou because they could be different this lifetime. Nonetheless, she found it so much more difficult for her to forgive them, in comparison to other people, like the Ayakashi sisters, for example, who'd redeemed themselves this lifetime. Perhaps it was because there were so much more feelings involved in this particular situation.

Not to mention the fact that they **_hadn't_ **proven that they weren't evil yet.

A tiny voice in the back of her head reminded her that he hadn't actually made true of his threat and attacked her, but she quickly shushed it and placed her concentration back on the man in front of her.

Though he remained silent, Ami could almost see the wheels of his mind turning. She wondered what he was thinking, but then she decided that she didn't really care as long as it wasn't along the lines of hurting the people she loved.

After what seemed like an eternity, he opened his mouth again. "Though I don't expect you to believe us, I do hope that you can kindly grant us a chance to live the life that had been stolen from us before … before we were brought under the control of Metallia again."

 _Us?_

"You mean all of you had been reborn? Again?" she demanded.

A glint flashed through his eyes. Though she couldn't describe most of the emotions included in there, she could clearly decipher "amusement", and it heckled her.

She pursed her lips as he answered with a simple affirmative. However, the logical side of her knew that she couldn't allow annoyance to control her feelings at the present moment. She needed to analyze the situation and decide on what to do. Granted, she knew she could simply ignore his request, tell her Senshi sisters that the four of them were back to life, and leave the decision to someone else.

However, she also knew how powerful Kunzite was.

And it wasn't just when he had been under the control of Metallia and Beryl. She clearly remembered that he had been the most talented amongst the Shitennou when it came to both magical and physical combat. She hardly had a chance to defeat him in an one-to-one battle. Though she supposed that if she were to hit the "contact all" button, she could probably go on defense and wait for the others to come to rescue.

If she promised to keep his secret, on the other hand, that meant that she would have to keep tabs on all four of them. Alone. That was also assuming that the four of them didn't have some hidden agenda to take over the world for evil again, or that the Shitennou no longer believed that the Senshi were out to take over Earth. Or both.

Though Usagi **_was_ **marrying Mamoru soon, and the two of them would soon be the Queen and King of Earth anyway. She wondered if that would count as "taking over Earth" in the Shitennou's books.

She glanced at Kyosuke again. She supposed that if he **_did_ **hold some misunderstanding towards the Sailor Senshi, he probably wouldn't waste time in trying to convince her to believe them.

Besides, it seemed like the four of them had been around for a while, given that she had heard his name quite a few times while she was at the hospital before this party. If they were up to no good, she supposed that they would've done **_something_ **already.

"I confess that it would be impossible for me to look over all four of you at the same time," she relented, her voice much calmer and more collected than what she was feeling.

She knew what kind of a promise she was making when she said those words, and she was certain Kyosuke would've caught on as well, judging by the light smile that appeared on his face.

"You have my word that I would look after the other three," he reassured her. After a short pause, he added, "Unless … you feel that it would be safer for you to look after certain members of my team."

Irritation unfurled at the pit of her stomach as her mind processed his words, and she was tempted to rescind their agreement. However, logic told her that he was simply teasing, and if she reacted too much, it would seem as if she really cared about a certain annoying Shittenou.

"That won't be necessary," she replied, her voice still more rigid than what she would've liked. Recomposing herself and after a short pause, she continued to say, "I'll keep this a secret, but under certain conditions."

Kyosuke tipped his head in affirmation. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

"Despite the relationships each and every one of you had … with the four of us, I wish that none of you will expect anything more," she said. "Therefore, I request that if you need to discuss anything, you'd approach me and vice versa, limiting the amount of unnecessary contact between the two different groups."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she stared right back at him frigidly.

"We do not need or want a relationship that occurred in a life we had no recollections about, nor do we need or want undesirable complications that are prone to disaster," she said.

Just like there was a switch somewhere, the shade of his eyes shifted to one reminiscent of clouds during a thunderstorm rather than the glinting silver of moonlight. Though the mask of indifference remained over his features, his face visibly hardened.

"You're making unjust assumptions, believing the worst of everything when nothing had happened yet," he said, his voice harsh. "This is unfair to both my brothers as well as your sisters."

"We have our own lives," she said sharply. "We've established relationships and careers throughout these years and I will not have the four of you barge into our perfectly balanced environment just so you can continue something with an unpredictable outcome. Even without the Shitennou's betrayal to the Terran Kingdom, there was no guarantee that things would've worked out neatly like some kind of silly child's fantasy world."

And she would be damned if she allowed herself to give them another chance to cause her sisters despair.

"We are not the same people as we were during the Silver Millennium. It would do you well to remember that," she said, her tone of voice as cold as her element.

"You're condemning everyone with this request, and you know it, Mercury," he said, pushing himself away from the wall and taking a step forward. "My brothers will suffer the fate of forever longing for something they had lost due to their loyalty to their lieges—and before you correct me, you know, perfectly well, that the Shitennou were fighting for what they had thought was in the best interest of the Earth. Regardless of whether or not what they had thought were correct or not, ignorance should not be punished by eternal misery.

"Though it would never be enough, we are working to repay our sins, and if the Prince will have us, we will return to his side, once we'd regained his trust and had established ourselves as suitable candidates to protect his and his beloved's safety. Your sisters would know of our existence by then, and though you claim you have no recollections of your previous life, you and I both know that the truth. Do you truly believe it wise to let your sisters know about our revival then rather than ease them into the fact now?"

"I would rather let them have a chance at something that is free from the chains of the past," she replied, her fingers clenching onto her computer as she forced herself to not waver.

His lips curved into a cold smile, one that hardly reached his eyes. "'Free from the chains of the past'? If that is what you think, you're more naive than I thought you were. More than likely, many of the relationships you would build during this lifetime has a direct connection to what happened in your past life."

His words echoed like the deep rumbling of thunder of an approaching storm, causing Ami to narrow her eyes as a niggling feeling that had bothered her for a while came to the forefront of her mind. While there was nothing about Minako's behavior that should've caused her to suspect things, there was always something there at the back of her mind, telling her that something was off. She now wondered if Minako's fiancé **_was_ **indeed someone from their past life.

She had categorized it as spending too much time with Rei when that little voice whispered that something was off when Minako dramatically swept into Rei's shrine, all excited and on cloud nine, announce that she was engaged and going to be married soon. After all, "love at first sight" wasn't that uncommon, and being dramatic and loving romance just because it was romance was so **_Minako_ **that it hadn't seemed logical to Ami for her mind to sound an alert.

As long as said "who-remembers-what-number-it-is-but-let's-call-it-one true love" didn't turn out to be hawks and eagles from some shady circus, that was.

Now, however, Ami wondered if this Ace **_was_ **indeed someone they should know about, and she knew how sneaky Minako could be when she wanted to hide something.

Come to think of it, they'd never even asked how Minako had met this Ace. Though she supposed they couldn't be blamed, since whenever Minako started to talk about him, the gushing was enough for Ami to zone out and concentrate on other far more important stuff than listening to how perfect they are for one another.

While she was deep in thought, Kyosuke's expression softened.

"I'm not asking you to immediately let my men encounter your sisters, nor am I asking for the four of you to accept their affections without conditions or wariness. However, on behalf my men, I hope that you wouldn't consider asking them to completely cut off contact from the other Senshi until after the Prince and his Princess take their places as the King and Queen," he said, tugging her out of her reverie.

She narrowed her eyes at him again. "Weren't you the one who asked me not to contact the other Senshi? You're contradicting yourself."

The expression on Kyosuke's face was unreadable—or it seemed to so to Ami. She wondered if Minako would've found some kind of missing meaning behind it.

No. That was incorrect. Ami was ninety-nine point four three percent certain that had Minako been in her shoes at the moment, she would've immediately caught on to what Kunzite was thinking.

"I simply hoped that we could have a chance to redeem ourselves beforehand, rather than walk right into your lives without doing something, without the least bit of penance," Kyosuke said.

His words were, in Ami's opinion, too smooth. It reminded her too much of a certain other Shitennou who also possessed a **_very_** polished ability to talk the birds from the trees. Unfortunately, as much as she tried, she couldn't tell from his face what his true intentions were or if this was simply how he was accustomed to speaking. Though she'd had numerous encounters with him in the past, she hadn't quite been the receiving end of his diplomatic acts.

Despite the bitter taste that it would bring to her tongue, she seemingly remembered sibling-like conversations and chess matches between Mercury and a silver-eyed General from Earth.

However, his conditions were … feasible, she supposed. If the Shitennou wanted to redeem themselves, she doubted they could do so within a short period of time.

 _Definitely no way to do it before Minako-chan's wedding._

"I would like to be informed beforehand, shall any of the Shitennou decide they want to meet my sisters again," she said. "And should there be any reason for me to refuse them, I wish that they would respect the decision."

Kyosuke tilted his head to one side, amused. "What if it was a chance encounter?"

She thought about it for a second before answering, "That would depend on if said encounter really was by accident." There was another short pause before she added, "If any of my sisters run into your brothers by a so-called accident, I would run a full investigation down to the least important detail and should they be proven guilty, you could be assured that neither side would like the consequences."

~-0-~


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : Huge thanks to those who'd read, reviewed, faved, and added to alerts! Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

"Alright there, Mizuno-san?" Haruto asked, giving her a friendly tap on the shoulder.

Stifling a yawn, she straightened up her back and gave him a solemn nod. "Yes, of course."

Haruto laughed, mirth swimming in his eyes. "You don't need to be that uptight around me, you know that. I just find it weird that usually attentive Mizuno-san seem to be daydreaming."

A faint blush appeared on her face as she gave him a nervous smile. "I guess I was a bit tired out by last night's party."

Haruto gave her a strange look. "But you went home early—oh!" A look of realization dawned on his face and he smiled. "I guess you're just not used to these kinds of partying, are you? Though I would've thought otherwise from your costume last night. Unless you were hurrying to get to another party last night?"

The thought of last night's costume made her grimace before she forced out a laugh, albeit a nervous one. "Oh no! I …"

She allowed her words to trail off. Usually, she probably would've made an effort to explain herself, worried that there would be rumors being spread about her. However, according to one goddess of love and beauty, rumors were a good thing, especially if they had something to do with promoting how "fun-loving" and "wild" Ami Mizuno was. She supposed party-hopping should count as being "wild", right?

That and because it really wasn't Haruto's business in first place. Was it her imagination, or was Haruto getting nosier and nosier? Not to mention the fact that if she shot down his presumption, she would have to explain why she was tired.

He really didn't need to know that she stayed up until four in the morning thinking about her conversation with a certain silver-haired Shitennou and worried that she might've somehow made a deal with the devil.

Haruto looked at her questioningly, as if he was waiting for her to elaborate. However, she was saved from answering when another voice called out her name.

"Mizuno! There you are!" Riku appeared around the corner and his face lit up when he saw her.

She was pretty certain a look of surprise appeared on her face when she saw how amicable he was being, but if he noticed, it didn't show.

"Watanabe-san …"

"I'd been looking for you all morning! Follow me," he said as he gestured for her to follow him.

Before she could answer, he'd already turned on his heel and walked away. Her heart gave a jolt, and she glanced at Haruto with question and worry swimming in her eyes. Unfortunately, Haruto looked every bit as confused as she was, and she doubted she would earn any favors with Riku if she allowed him to wait for her. Therefore, giving Haruto a wobbly smile, she hurried after her supervisor, worried about what was about to come.

~-0-~

She supposed that things could've been worse. Maybe. Like if the Shitennou appeared out of thin air and started stealing energy from everyone while mocking about how stupid she was to trust them again.

That, or if one particular, strawberry-blond Shitennou showed up at the hospital.

So really, she supposed that staying in the presence of Kyosuke Takayama while he was having a "meeting" of some sort with her supervisor wasn't the worst thing that could happen. Though the fact that Riku kept sending her cryptic glances was quite disturbing.

"Perhaps you would like Mizuno to show you around the hospital? To see that the money you'd donated was being placed into good use?"

And so were none-too-subtle suggestions. Disturbing, that was.

She fleetingly tried to imagine the expression on Minako's face if she saw this scenario. She reckoned that the Venusian soldier would either be highly amused or annoyed. She was betting her whole fortune on the former.

"Hm … while Mizuno-san is quite an interesting person, I doubt my … _friend_ would appreciate me spending so much time with such a lovely young lady."

She was certain that she didn't imagine the amused glint that flashed through his eyes. Neither did she doubt she was wrong in assuming that said "friend" must be his brother, the one that she was doing her best to avoid.

Nonetheless, Riku obviously got the wrong idea in regards to whom this "friend" could be.

"You can be quite assured that what happens … I wouldn't rat out a friend if I weren't given explicit permission to do so," Riku said.

The smile on his face was equal parts disconcerting and bootlicking, and Ami felt bile rise up her throat before she forced it down. She'd imagine that if Makoto had been in her shoes, Riku would've had his nose flattened into the nearest wall. Though she supposed Makoto's methods had their merits when she heard the next words out of Riku's mouth.

"It'll be our little secret," Riku continued to say, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Kyosuke looked as polite as ever, but she theorized that the extra tiny quirk of the corner of his lips and the slightly raised eyebrows suggested condescension.

"Are you always this … accommodating towards the patrons of the hospital, Watanabe-san?" Kyosuke asked.

Either Riku didn't hear the sarcasm or he chose to ignore it. "Of course not, Takayama-san! I have no idea why, but from the first time I saw you, I just felt this closeness towards you, as if I'd seen a family member or a long-lost brother!"

Ami's eyebrows furrowed at the display in front of her. She knew Riku had a long history of kissing up to people of importance, but this was going a bit too far. Momentarily, she glanced at Kyosuke, wondering just how influential he really was if Riku was practically tripping over himself to flatter him.

"Is that so?" Kyosuke asked, almost conversationally. However, Ami was pretty sure she hadn't imagined that spark of disdain in his eyes when he looked at the overly eager supervisor.

"Of course!" Riku exclaimed, completely oblivious to how he was accomplishing pretty much the opposite of what he had been setting out to do.

At that moment, another young nurse ran up to Riku. "Watanabe-san, your wife is on the phone."

A fleeting frown found its place on Riku's face before he squeezed out that over-enthusiastic smile again towards Kyosuke.

"I'll be right back," Riku said. Glancing at Ami, he gave her a sharp nudge in the arm while Kyosuke wasn't looking.

It took no small amount of effort for Ami to resist the childish move of making faces behind Riku's back as he hurried away towards his office.

"I guess that's the cue for me to offer you a cup of coffee," Kyosuke said, a stoic mask over his face.

"As delightful as that suggestion is, I'm afraid I will have to decline," Ami replied dryly.

"As delightful as that supervisor of yours?" Kyosuke asked, humor fracturing the polished surface of his facade and causing a small grin to appear on his face.

Ami gave him a firm shake of her head, the corner of her lips quivering despite her best attempts at keeping a straight face. "I'm afraid that there aren't many things that can quite compare to the epitome of charisma that is Watanabe-san."

"You wound me, Mizuno-san. Here I am, believing that I am charming you with my wit and good looks, yet you proceed to compliment Watanabe-san instead," Kyosuke deadpanned.

"My sincerest apologies, but you still have a long way to go if you wish to reach his league," Ami said as she sat down on the bench for visitors, crossing her feet at her ankles.

A small chuckle escape his lips as he took a seat on the bench opposite of hers and crossing his arms over his chest. "You've changed."

She tilted her head to one side, a questioning look on her face before she realized that he meant in comparison to Mercury. She raised an eyebrow at him. "We've all changed."

Perhaps he knew that she hadn't finished, but he remained silent as she pulled and readjusted the white coat she was wearing. The silence was a comfortable one, and the atmosphere was amicable. She reckoned that if she were to close her eyes, she could almost pretend that they were inside a library or something similar.

"We're not carbon copies of who we had been, Takayama-san," she said quietly.

It's really not a topic she enjoyed, but it wasn't enough to disturb the comfortable casualness between the two of them. After all, she wasn't being nastily surprised by having a possible former enemy pop up in front of her, and if to be quite honest, she knew that this would come up in conversation again one day or another.

"Similarly, I could say the same about you," she continued to say. "That's precisely why I was willing to go through with our deal."

He leaned forward, propping his elbows up with his knees as he gazed at her above his clasped hands, a smile lingering on his lips. It was strange, but at that moment, Ami could almost understand why Venus had been so enamored with him, despite the many suitors lining up for her hand.

"Regardless of how much a person had changed between lifetimes, I still find it hard to believe for Mercury to go back on her words."

For a moment, she was afraid that someone might've heard what he'd said, but then she remembered that he was also an expert with magical force fields, and though she detected nothing with her naked eye, she was willing to bet that he had done something to prevent others from hearing their conversation.

There was more curiosity than malice in his words, and for that reason, Ami decided to keep her voice as gentle as possible, even though she knew her words were anything but.

She lowered her head, and out of habit, she twirled the piece of loose strand of thread at the hem of white coat around her fingers. "Mercury does like to keep her words, but if the Shitennou weren't changed men, I daresay that she wouldn't hesitate in using everything to her advantage." Tilting her head to one side, she gazed up straight into his eyes. "After all, the Shitennou of the past weren't very keen on keeping their promises."

"Touché, Mizuno-san," he said, leaning back against the wall again. "An eye for an eye … perhaps one hasn't changed that much after all."

"I would like to believe," she said, "that we'd all learned from our past mistakes and had changed for the better."

He gave pause when he heard her words, and Ami wondered if he thought that she'd meant the relationships between the Senshi and the Shitennou.

"Are you speaking for yourself or on behalf of others?" he asked, proving her intuition.

His voice was still casual, but his eyes took on a business-like glint.

She was never one to trudge down pointless endeavors, so she didn't bother to correct him. Ever since she'd known about the relationships between the Shitennou and the Senshi, she'd labeled them as a mistake, so it really didn't matter that she hadn't been thinking about _**them**_ when she mentioned "mistakes" at the end of the day.

She gazed at him in silence for a short moment before answering, "I'm not speaking on behalf of anyone. Just the simple truth." Taking a deep breath in, she continued, "Takayama-san … I acknowledge that you may be a changed man, but I also think that it may be better for everyone if we looked at everything from a more realistic point of view. My parents weren't the same ones as Mercury's. Serenity's mother isn't Queen Serenity. Though I love my Princess and would lay down my life for her, my whole life didn't revolve around training to protect her. We are who we were, but we don't have to follow the same destiny we had in our previous life. You **_can't_ **expect us to follow the same destiny. We don't have to choose the same relationships we had in our previous life."

He stared at her, and she looked right back at him, almost daring him to contradict her. To be honest, it was odd, bizarre even, to her how adamant he seemed to be about pursuing what had been. Though Mercury had developed somewhat of a friendship with Kunzite and she'd known about his relationship with Venus, she'd always seen him as someone who was cold and unemotional. At the time, she hadn't thought much about it, since she'd assumed that what had happened between him and Venus was precisely because they were so different. Opposites attracted. However, it seemed that she had been wrong, somewhere down the line. It seemed that Kunzite was just as invested in their affair as Venus had been, though he didn't show it very often.

That, in and of itself, made the whole situation quite a bit more delicate and a whole lot stickier. She felt as if there was an anvil being hung right above her head and would come crashing down on her, should she say something wrong. However, she wasn't in a situation where she could keep her mouth shut and not say anything.

"You've always been more logical," he said, his voice peaceful, almost scarily so. "So logical that it was often hard to persuade you that real life situations don't necessarily always followed numbers and statistics."

Now that was an unfair assessment. She was immensely tempted to snap back at him, but she managed to keep that urge at bay, opting for the level-headed route.

"Au contraire," she replied. "If I were to follow numbers and statistics, I would've deemed it impossible for us to sway away from the relationships that were predestined from our previous lives. Additionally, I would've assumed that the Shitennou would be doomed to fall into the hands of evil once more."

"But isn't that precisely why you're afraid of letting my brothers meet the Senshi? Isn't that precisely why you are determined to stay away from Zoisite? Isn't that why you're afraid of falling in love with him again? You assume that we're going to turn evil again, so best prepare yourself for the worst. If the Senshi never invested their emotions in us, then it would be so much easier to kill us when the day comes, wouldn't it?"

Each of his words were like cruel threads of steel, pricking into her mind and heart, and though he was sitting feet away from her, she felt as if she'd been slapped. Even though what he said wasn't the complete truth, it was enough for the hot flush of embarrassment to color her cheeks, and she realized belatedly that she should've known that he was moving in for the kill after attempting to lull her into a false sense of security.

"This has nothing to do with Zoisite and me," she said quietly. It was half of the truth, and that was all she wanted him to know.

"You'll excuse me for the fact that I find your statement highly unconvincing," he said. "You spoke as if you are speaking for your sisters, while we both know that you are making decisions without their knowledge or consent. You never even hesitated to wonder if they might actually want another chance with my brothers nor did you bother to ask for their thoughts or opinions."

"They're happy the way they are right now. They don't need the Shitennou barging into their lives and changing everything for them," she said.

"You see it as 'barging into their lives', yet you never stop to wonder perhaps we can be assets to their lives, to _**your**_ life. Change is never necessarily bad," he countered. "Mercury's initial impression of Zoisite was horrible, but I recall you mentioning later on that spending time with him was the happiest memories you'd ever had. Or was that a lie?"

"It wasn't a lie, but it was a mistake, a mistake that doesn't need to be repeated," she retorted.

"That is precisely why I said that you're already assuming that we would turn our backs on Endy once again. You're already preparing for the day when the four of you will need to kill us," Kyosuke said.

His eyes were like dark steel, piercing into her eyes and giving her the intimidating feeling that he was staring into her soul. The feeling was so suffocating that she was forced to looked down and away.

"We're going in circles. We had this conversation last night, and I'm not about to keep repeating myself a thousand times again today," she said, suddenly tired.

"You know you will need to face your fears sooner or later. You can't keep running away from trouble and pretending that it will resolve itself if you don't look at it, as if Zoisite would suddenly disappear if you don't see him."

"It's not about Zoisite!" she snapped.

"Then what it is about?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes at her.

And with that question, she felt the strength rush out of her like air from a balloon. Why was she even arguing with him? It wasn't even worth proving to him that she didn't give a damn about a certain green-eyed, handsome Shitennou (he could go burn in hell for all she cared; she'd probably buy front row tickets if she had the option to do so). Let him believe that it was because of Zoisite. It would save everyone the trouble, and she didn't need to explain that she couldn't have him marching into Minako's life days before her wedding.

"It … it doesn't matter," she said, shaking her head, staring off to the side. "You're right. I'm afraid that if my sisters were to reignite whatever they had with the three of you, I would be forced to be in his presence. Now, if you would be so kind as to acquiesce to my request of staying away from all three of them, you would have my utmost respect and gratitude."

He remained quiet for seconds after she'd finished speaking, and if she weren't so preoccupied with waiting for his answer, she would've noticed that his wards also prevented sounds from the outside from reaching them. However, the silence was unforgiving this time. It fueled her curiosity and heightened her anxiety, and nervously, she took a peek at his face.

If she'd found his failure to answer her request unnerving, she would have to categorize that impassive expression on his features as chilling. For some reason, it worried her more than words could describe, but before she could say something, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes appeared.

"As you wish."

~-0-~

After that very disconcerting meeting with Kyosuke, Ami was left with even more sleepless nights.

The girls had chalked it up to her being busy at the hospital. However, she, of course, knew better. Kyosuke's parting words had seemed to ominous to her, but she couldn't tell what he was thinking, nor could she accuse him of anything because really, what was she going to ask him? How she'd managed to mess up and let something slip that she wasn't worried about Zoisite?

Thankfully, Minako's wedding date continued to crawl closer, and the next couple of days passed without anything suspicious happening, unless she counted that one time Makoto managed to burn one batch of cookies. It was rare for Makoto to be distracted while she was baking, but the girls had assumed that it was normal. After all, accidents did happen to everyone, didn't they?

If Kyosuke didn't do anything by now, everything should be okay, right?

She would've probably been comforted by that if she didn't know Kunzite as well as she did, and from the two times she'd conversed with him, that sneakiness and treating every encounter as if he was in some victory-deciding battles were things that hadn't changed much between his two lifetimes.

"Ami-chan!" Minako called out in a sing-song voice as she slung one arm around Ami's shoulders. "Are you bringing anyone to the wedding?"

Ami snapped out of her reverie. "What? Wait. No and no."

The smile on Minako's face faltered. "I only asked one question."

Makoto, who was testing out cake batter by the oven, sniggered. "She probably already knows that you're going to try to set her up with someone."

"That's not fair!" Minako pouted. "Touma-san is such a lovely young man, too—"

"Ha! Ami-chan was right. Or for that matter, all three of us," Rei said as she drank her tea in front of the television.

"You gotta stop trying to set us up with random men that you find 'lovely', Minako-chan," Makoto said, shaking her head as she added some more sugar to the batter.

"But Koichi-san loves to eat, Mako-chan!" Minako exclaimed.

"Righhhhhht, that's the recipe for a perfect match. One knows how to cook, and the other knows how to eat. The latter is so hard to find these days," Rei said with a roll of her eye.

"Oh, don't worry, Rei-chan! I hadn't forgotten you. Taiga-san loves to meditate, and he's so handsome. The two of you would make such a lovely couple," Minako gushed.

"No," Rei replied without looking at Minako.

"But—"

"No," Rei repeated, taking yet another sip of tea.

"Rei-chan! Come on. You hadn't even seen the guy yet!" Minako heckled.

"I don't need to see him, neither do I need you to meddle with my love life," Rei said, a disgusted look on her face.

"But—"

Her next argument was cut short by the ring of her cellphone, much to everyone's delight.

"Hi! Minako-chan speaking!" she bubbled into the phone before mouthing towards Rei, "We're not finished yet."

"Does anyone have Ace's phone number? I'm going to offer him a hundred thousand yen to keep her so busy that she won't have time to play matchmaker," Rei said, after Minako left to speak in another room.

"I'll chip in," Makoto offered.

"Me too," Ami sighed. "Between her and Usagi-chan, I'm starting to get a bit scared whenever I get a call to 'meet up'."

"Hear, hear," Makoto agreed, placing the cake she was making into the oven before setting the temperature and time. She paused for a second before adding, "The last guy she tried to set me up with was also looking for a chef."

Ami and Rei both looked at her, knowing that she wasn't quite finished with her tale.

Placing both hands on the island counter, amusement and helplessness swam in her eyes as she looked at two of her dearest friends. "He needed a nanny to take care of his children so that he could take his wife on a second honeymoon."

"Are you serious?" Rei asked, scrunching up her nose.

"Dead serious," Makoto said cheerfully.

"At least he didn't spent three hours telling you about how many awards he was going to get on his yet-to-be-finished research," Ami said.

Makoto and Ami both looked at Rei, waiting for her to share a tale of her own. Instead, the Martian princess shrugged.

"I don't have those kind of tales to share, unfortunately," she said. "Most of them clam up after I glared at them." An annoyed frown appeared on her delicate features. "I'm almost tempted to tell Minako that I'm getting engaged with Yuuichirou just to get her to stop."

"I'm actually quite surprised you _**hadn't**_ ," Makoto confessed, "both for real and as an excuse. I thought you found him at least tolerable."

Rei shrugged again and leaned back into the sofa, but before she could answer, they heard Minako's frantic voice moving towards where they were sitting.

"—be right there," she said as she hurried into the living room.

The three of them stared at her angry face in surprise and she gazed back at them, no longer the bubbly young woman who was about to get married.

"I need to get going," she said.

"Uh, okay, why?" Makoto asked.

"I need to get some business settled," Minako said, her voice calm, a deep contrast to her expression.

"What happened?" Ami asked.

An incredulous laugh escaped Minako's lips. "Ace just got thrown in jail. Apparently, he's being accused of drug possession and a hit-and-run case."

Ami shot up from her chair.

"What!?" she and Rei exclaimed at the same time.

"Precisely," Minako fumed. "I _**know**_ Ace well enough—checked him up—made sure that there was nothing wrong with him—there's no way in _**hell**_ he would do something like this—"

Subconsciously, Ami felt relieved that Minako had run a background check on Ace beforehand, but at the moment, she was more concerned with the fact that Ace had been thrown in jail, and she was betting her bottom dollar that it had something to do with Kyosuke Takayama.

"—and I'll make sure those sorry asses know who they're dealing with," Minako finished off before grabbing her stuff and rushing out of the door.

A nervous laugh escaped Makoto's lips as she watched the door to her apartment slam shut. "I … actually feel a bit sorry for the people who'd thrown Ace in jail now."

~-0-~


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : Huge, huge thanks to all of you who've read, reviewed, faved, and added to alerts! Happy Chinese New Year to all of you who celebrate it. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

"You may go in now, Mizuno-san," the secretary said to Ami, who was sitting on the sofa for visitors.

Shooting the lady a grateful smile and a soft "Thank you", Ami walked towards the door. She'd seen the building she was in a couple of times, had even seen it while it was being built. At that time, she remembered being at awe at how quickly the construction had gone. Now, however, knowing that who the owner was, she was no longer surprised.

After announcing her arrival, the secretary swiftly left the room, closing the door shut behind her.

"Good afternoon, Mizuno-san," Kyosuke greeted as his hands left the keyboard and he leaned back into his chair.

"You're the one behind it," Ami immediately accused instead.

His eyebrow shot up and his eyes took on a humorous glint. "Well, I suppose that's one form of greeting, though I would have to inquire what you are referring to."

In a burst of anger and courage, she stalked towards his desk and slammed both of her palms on top of the table. "You know what I'm talking about. You're the one who framed Ace. You're the one who got him thrown into jail."

A look of mild interest appeared on his face as he propped up his chin with one hand. "Are you suggesting that I framed, let's say, a random person? But we both know that's not the case."

Ami blinked rapidly a couple of times. "So … you're admitting that you did frame him."

"Did I?" he asked as he looked off to the side, as if in thought. "I'm under the impression that I haven't admitted anything."

"But you just admitted that Ace wasn't a random person," Ami replied.

A look of mild surprise appeared on his face. "Hm … I hardly can call a Venusian soldier who'd been allocated to my army any random person. In fact, I believe that your leader might recall the young man who'd been so enamored with her that he'd signed up to be sent to Earth, just so he could see her."

Ami's mouth dropped open. "No."

Kyosuke raised an eyebrow.

"You're … you know … you must've known that he was getting married with her. That's why you're lying—he can't be someone from our past life," Ami stuttered, trying to convince herself.

Tapping his hand on the table, he asked, "Is Venus getting married?" He tilted his head to one side. "And are you telling me that Venus had forgotten to inform you that her fiancé is the reincarnation of Adonis?"

Ami stared at him, the implication of his words hitting her like a mountain of bricks. However, she shook her head, brushing away that for the time being—she could have a good talk with Minako **_after_ **she'd dealt with Kyosuke.

"That," she said slowly, "is not the point. You must think I'm incredibly daft if you believe that you can get away with framing Ace and throwing him in jail days before Venus gets married with him. She'd run a background check on him already, so we know that he didn't do what they are accusing him of doing."

Not to mention the fact that this might very well bring Minako in contact with Kyosuke. For Serenity's sake, she'd forgotten about that possibility. She didn't want to think what would happen if Minako was to meet Kyosuke right now. She didn't even know if she should mention it to Kyosuke. Was that his plan all along? Was that what he had wished would happen when he'd set out to frame Ace? She wasn't even certain anymore. However, he did mention that he'd wanted time for the Shitennou to redeem themselves. That meant that the possibility of Minako finding him alive couldn't possibly be an outcome he had been waiting for.

But that was also before he'd known Minako was getting married, and knowing Kunzite, he couldn't possibly had made such a monumental error, could he?

Throwing caution to the wind, she said to him, coldly, "You do know that once she figures out, and mark my words, she **_will_ **find out, that you are the one behind this, you'll find her at your doorsteps earlier than you'd expected."

He froze on the spot, and under other circumstances, Ami might've found it hilarious because it wasn't everyday one could catch General Kunzite of Earth unawares, but at the current moment, she couldn't find anything amusing about the situation.

"You're telling me that you haven't thought of that possibility?" she asked in disbelief.

He didn't answer her, and she couldn't tell if he was thinking extremely quickly right now or if he was completely at a loss at the moment. Biting down on her lower lip, she wondered if she should call Minako right now. She wondered if she **_could_ **call her. Nonetheless, she needed to know where Minako was right now. She needed to know if the Venusian soldier had discovered the name "Kyosuke Takayama" yet.

Making up her mind, she decided to call one of the other girls first, to see if they'd spoken to Minako yet.

"Mako-chan? Have you spoken with Minako-chan yet?" she asked, giving Kyosuke a cold glare before walking a small distance away.

"Ami-chan?" Makoto spoke up on the other end.

Her grim tone of voice didn't bring Ami any comfort, so she wrapped her free hand around her middle and sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm going to meet with her right now. Apparently, the two thugs who are trying to frame Ace were hired by someone, and Minako is convinced that the police were getting orders from higher authorities, so Ace is still in jail, but Minako is going to find that 'somebody' who hired those two thugs. I volunteered to go with her because that person is apparently affiliated with the yakuza—"

"What!?" Ami swirled around and stared at Kyosuke.

Okay, so he had ties with the law enforcement **_and_ **the yakuza. No wonder Riku was kissing up to him so desperately.

"—and Rei is keeping Usagi busy because she wanted to come with us after finding out that Ace got thrown in jail. The last thing we needed was for her and Mamoru-san to be tangled up in this pile of mess. Hey! Do you think you can check who's actually behind this? I mean, I think Minako's way of 'beating the information out' is great, but it might be a bit slow."

"I'll check and get back to you," Ami said, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.

After exchanging a few more words, she hung up and glared at Kyosuke with her fists clenched. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not certain on what to say first. It was tempting to give into her petulant side and tell him "I told you so", but she knew that it wouldn't solve the problem they had at hand. She didn't want Minako walking in here, and she was pretty certain Kyosuke wanted to avoid that scenario as well.

"Well then, I do hope you have some back-up plan because she's apparently hunting down the people behind Ace's imprisonment," she finally said.

Massaging his temples, he let out a sigh before saying, "I'll think of something."

"I suggest you hurry, since she's not known to be slow or patient," she said coldly.

If she weren't worried about how to stall Minako, she would've found it amusing how much he resembled a child at the moment. However, now, she could only sigh, her shoulders slumping in wariness. She just **_knew_ **it was a bad idea to make a deal with Kyosuke. She should've just said "no" and let the other Senshi deal with it. Or maybe she should've gone back on her words and just lied to him.

"I'll walk you out," Kyosuke finally said as he stood up from his chair.

"That won't be necessary," she said, though her voice was much calmer than how she felt. After a short pause, she added, "I'll try my best to stall her, but I can't guarantee how soon you'll see her at your doorsteps. She's good at sniffing out clues when she wants to."

"I remember," he replied, and for a moment, she thought she saw fondness flash through his eyes before he took in a deep breath again.

"For the record," she said, turning towards him again when she'd reached the door, "I'm not fond of surprises." She looked at him straight in the eyes. "This will be the only time I will put any effort into helping you. Should this happen again, please be assured that I will be all too happy to let my sisters handle the situation. Have a good day."

~-0-~

She let out a sigh as she waited for the elevator. She didn't know why she bothered to promise to help him. Really, he deserved having Minako release hell on him. Though she supposed that since it was Minako and **_him_ **, she couldn't really be certain it would end in a fight.

"Good day."

The voice startled her out of her reverie, but she was even more surprised to identify who stood next to her. Therefore, she could only gawk until a congenial smile blossomed on his face.

"I'm assuming you're leaving the building. Unless it's actually your hobby to watch elevators come and go."

"... Right," she said quietly before slipping through the open doors of the waiting elevator.

She wasn't all too surprised when he followed in behind her.

He stood across from Ami inside the elevator, tipping his head towards Kyosuke's secretary. Her barely-muffled giggles resounded in Ami's ears as the door closed and they started moving downwards.

"I didn't know you worked here," she blurt out, no longer able to hold in her curiosity.

He had always been the Shitennou she'd known the least. Perhaps it was because he was never overly outspoken, or perhaps she just never had the chance to get to know him. And maybe it was for that reason, she didn't feel as much hostility towards him as she did towards the others.

"Well, despite our status, we are, unfortunately, not who we used to be. It's much harder walking into banks and asking for a loan these days. General Jadeite, Knight of Patience and Harmony, personal guardian to the High Prince of Terra doesn't have the same influence nowadays as it did before," he said, shaking his head in mock misery.

Ami covered her mouth and laughed upon hearing his words. Her eyes were still twinkling her mirth when she answered, "Mm, yes, I do suppose that it will be a bit hard to get that loan."

Jadeite held out his hand and gave her another smile. "Ito Junya, at your service."

Ami didn't bother hiding the grin that hadn't quite left her face as she took his hand and shook it. "Mizuno Ami."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mizuno-san."

"Likewise," she said, and she was more than surprised to realize that she actually meant it.

"So … what got you to come here today? If it's because of **_that_ **old man—" He tilted his head upwards in what she supposed was the direction of Kyosuke's office. "—I have to say you have incredibly bad taste in looking for someone to chat with. Between you and me, never look for him if it's anything short of a war," he said conspiratorially.

A small laugh left Ami's lips upon hearing her words, and she felt some of the stress that had built up during her talk with Kyosuke melt away.

When she didn't say anything, he tilted his head to one side. "I'm actually serious. I really don't know why you're here. The last thing Kyosuke mentioned to us was that he'd made a deal with you, and you looked rather stressed when you were waiting for the elevator, so I'm supposing something happened."

Ami bit down on the inside of her lower lip as she gazed at him, pondering if he was telling the truth. His face held mild interest, but other than that, she couldn't find the spark of scheming that she was so accustomed to with Kyosuke and a certain other Shitennou. She didn't know if this was because he was genuinely honest in his intentions or if this was just his game face.

The elevator reached first floor before she had the chance to decide on what to do, and Junya motioned for her to exit first.

"Did you drive here?" he asked.

"No, it's not too far from where I was, so I just walked over," she replied.

"Do you need me to help you hail a taxi?" he questioned.

She shook her head. "It's … I think I would enjoy a bit of a walk right now."

"I would offer to walk you home, but seeing that we'd just met five minutes ago, that'll probably be a bit inappropriate," he said. He glanced over her shoulder and offered, "Would you like a cup of coffee? It's without amorous intentions or ulterior motives—well, maybe just two motives, since I'm awfully curious, and I do wish to get on your good side."

~-0-~

She couldn't say that she didn't wonder if she'd done the right thing. She supposed it wasn't too scandalous for her to have a cup of coffee with Jadeite, and Rei wouldn't be overly offended if she did somehow see them in the cafe. Maybe. Frankly speaking, Rei would probably be angry at her for hiding the fact that the Shitennou were back to life, if the Martian princess hadn't already seen it in the fire.

Well, she supposed that that wasn't the only thing she should be worried about. Really, why was she sitting here when she should be doing something about Minako? However, for once, she seriously didn't know where to start, and perhaps that was why she remained in her seat, quietly thanking Junya when he handed her a mug.

"The coffee here is quite good," Junya said, take a sip out of his mug.

"He got her fiancé thrown in jail," she blurted out.

It was after the words left her mouth that she realized that she had been a bit vague in her words, but Junya obviously understood what she meant, if him choking on that mouthful of coffee was any indication at all.

"You're kidding me," Junya said, wiping his mouth with a handful of tissues.

Placing his mug back onto the table, he leaned back in his seat, a look of awe imprinted on his face when she shook her head.

"For Gaea's sake—" he breathed out before he chuckled. "Damn. You have no idea how rare this is."

"What? Him getting people thrown in jail?" she asked dryly with a raised eyebrow.

He laughed again. "No wonder **_he_ **fell in love with you."

There was no question who he was talking about, and she felt warmth traveling up to her cheeks. Perhaps it was because of his tone of voice, or maybe it was because he had been quite the delightful company so far, but she didn't feel as stung by him mentioning **_him_ **as she had been when Kyosuke did.

Lowering her eyes, she took a sip out of her mug of coffee. It was, indeed, quite delectable, much smoother than the other place she had been frequenting for her daily dose. She made a mental note to add this place to her everyday route to the hospital.

Junya didn't seem to notice the thoughts that went through her mind. Instead, he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and chin on top of his laced fingers. "You can't just stop there now, or else you'll seriously have me begging for details, and trust me, that won't be a pretty sight."

The expression on his face reminded Ami so much of a child that she almost had trouble stifling a laugh. It was so different to the persona that he had shown her while they were walking here and it fascinated Ami that the childlike innocence and gentlemanly etiquette could flow so seamlessly into one another.

He raised his eyebrows upon noticing her silence and perhaps even her amusement because he then said, "You don't believe me. I would tell you to ask around, but given that the only persons you could ask probably shouldn't know of our existence, you'll have to go on my words: I can make quite a scene. I'd say I can give the bratty young one a run for his money if I wanted to."

Ami blinked at him. "Are you certain that's the argument you want to use? It might very well convince me **_not_ **to give you the details."

"Damn it! My plan is foiled," Junya said with a shake of his head. With a sigh, he leaned back into his chair, the smile on his lips a contrast to the misery implied in his words.

Ami took another sip of her coffee before she answered, "I suppose … since you already know the most crucial part of what had happened, it wouldn't really make sense for me to withhold the rest of the information." She tilted her head to one side. "Other than for the purpose of torturing you."

"Hm … someone we both know always described you as sweet," he said, a boyish grin on his face.

"Perhaps I'd changed," she quipped, knowing exactly who he was talking about.

"Dear Gaea, please tell me you didn't," he said, a look of faux horror on his face.

She laughed softly into her hand before she proceeded to give him a concise rundown about what had happened.

He let out a whistle once she was finished. "You're lucky he didn't get Masato—that's Nephrite, by the way—to hammer him into a pulp. Wait—sorry, no, it's probably enough for him to want to strangle Ace with his bare hands. Getting him jailed is probably the least dramatic thing that's going through his mind right now."

" **_Least_ **dramatic?" Ami asked in disbelief.

In her opinion, using all sorts of connections to frame someone else and get them thrown in jail because he was marrying the person you had a relationship with one lifetime ago seemed pretty dramatic to her.

"Well, to be fair, there are moments when I really don't know what's going on through that scary brain of his, but I can assure you that this is rare. Like, I never saw him do something without calculating every possible consequences before, and at the risk of the other girls finding out that we're alive so early on?" Junya shook his head. "So, like I've said, I do think the last logical part of his brain that hadn't been consumed by rage yet did manage to remind him to be a bit less … well … dramatic." He paused before adding, "Not to mention if the same thing had happened to us, I daresay, we would've done something a lot worse."

The way he looked at her was meaningful, as if he were trying to convey some kind of message for his brother, and for the first time during their conversation, Ami lowered her head, discomfort stirring at the pit of her stomach.

"So … what do you plan to do now?" he asked.

She had an inkling of suspicion that he'd steered the conversation away on purpose, but she welcomed it anyway.

"I … don't really know for certain," she admitted. "She's on a warpath to find out who's behind the whole thing right now, and knowing her persistence, she'll manage to find out it's him sooner or later. In the meantime, I can only try to stall her … something which I should be doing now, really."

She sighed, rubbing her temples.

He shook his head. "Kyosuke might've been angry, but I doubt he'd completely lost his mind back then. I'm pretty certain it should take some time before she discover it's him."

"Hopefully," she said, a bit doubtful.

"I'll go talk with Kyosuke and see what I can get out of him. Maybe there's some way to fix all of this," Junya said, standing up.

Ami stood up as well and gave him a nod. "Thank you. I … really appreciate it."

He shrugged and gave her a wink. "Hey, it's the least I can do for someone who's willing to give us a second chance."

She smiled back at him. At that moment, though she couldn't say she completely trusted him and despite the fact that it had led to all this fiasco, she suddenly felt that perhaps the deal wasn't completely that bad of an idea after all.

~-0-~

After parting ways with Junya, Ami decided to go to Hikawa Shrine, if only to make sure her Princess didn't decide to join into the whole pile of mess. Her hunch was proven true, based on the loud declarations of "going to punish the person who dared to stand in the way of true love" even before she stepped into Rei's tearoom. Thankfully, that was the only thing she had to worry about that day, though she was a bit worried when there was no news from Makoto or Minako.

After a sleepless night and no news from either of them, Ami woke up early and called Makoto, and her wariness grew when her Jovian sister didn't answer. She then mulled over the merit of calling Rei, but then she would have to explain why she was acting like she was the secret identity behind Ace's imprisonment.

Her shift at the hospital was, in contrast, a lot more boring, allowing her to spend more of her brain power contemplating on what to do. She had considered calling in sick, but without knowing where Minako and Makoto were at the moment, it would've been a pointless endeavor.

Her agitation continued to grow throughout the next day, and she soon found herself at Kyosuke's office again. However, much to her dismay, the man wasn't in his office, according to his secretary. She briefly wondered if he had been murdered and buried by one Minako Aino before she ditched that idea in the bin. If that were the case, Junya probably would've contacted her by now.

Finally, just when Ami was at the brink of believing that Junya hadn't contacted her because Minako had managed to murder and bury all four of the Shitennou, the Venusian in question appeared at Hikawa Shrine, as cheerful and bright as any other day, dark circles under the eyes lightened by clever usage of make-up.

"So … were you caught in the act?" Rei asked after Minako sat down beside Ami.

"Hm?" Minako blinked at her.

"The last time I've heard from you was **_three days ago_** , ready to slaughter whoever had framed Ace. What else was I supposed to think? I thought your disappearance was because you needed to lay low and possibly find a way out of Japan before the authorities threw **_you_ **in jail, too," Rei replied with her arms crossed over her chest.

Her violet eyes flickered over to Makoto's green ones.

"W-we were busy," culprit number two stammered.

"Busy? So busy that you decided it would be a good idea to not let us know that you're still alive?" Rei asked. "I almost didn't know what to tell Usagi. She was worried sick about the two of you and was this close to running after the two of you just to make sure that you were safe."

Identical looks of guilt appeared on Minako and Makoto's faces, causing a niggling feeling to blossom at the back of Ami's mind.

"Sorry! We'll … there won't be a second time," Makoto promised.

"There better not be," Rei huffed. After a pause, she asked, "So I trust that everything was settled?"

"Yeah … of course it was," Makoto said.

"Good. So when's Ace going to get released?" Rei asked.

"He was released two days ago," Makoto replied, her response swift.

"So I guess there won't be any delays in the wedding then," Rei said.

"..."

The niggling feeling at the back of Ami's mind continued to grow, traveling down to the pit of her stomach and festering into that nasty sinking feeling one got when they just know they are about to receive horrible news.

Rei raised an eyebrow at the silence she'd received. Makoto fidgeted in her seat and twisted her fingers around. When she noticed Ami staring at her frantic moves, she stuffed both of her hands on her thighs under the table and out of sight. Minako, on the other hand, stared at her teacup as if she'd suddenly found something interesting in there.

"What are you hiding from us?" Rei demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"... Well … erm … we … I mean to say …" Makoto said with each word lower in volume than the last.

"I'm calling off the wedding," Minako said softly.

"Wait, what?" Rei questioned, whipping her head around and staring at her.

"I'm calling off the wedding," Minako repeated herself, her voice firmer than the previous time.

"Because of him?" Ami asked quietly.

Minako, Makoto, and Rei all turned their heads and stared at her.

"Him **_who_**?" Rei demanded.

Her eyes were tumultuous, and Ami could almost see a hint of plea, a desperate wish and hope fighting against the inevitable.

"How did you … you **_knew_ **they were back to life?" Makoto whispered, her eyes focused on Ami.

"I …" Ami started to say. In the end, she sighed and nodded.

"And you didn't think of telling us?" Minako asked in disbelief.

"I … it's complicated," Ami said, shaking her head.

Rei stared at each of them coldly. "That's one way to put it."

Her voice snapped Makoto and Minako out of their disbelief. For the second time that day, guilt flashed over their faces again.

"Rei-chan, I … we …" Makoto said.

"So what should we call this? History repeating itself? Once those four come back into our lives, we decide that we're going to follow our footsteps from our past lives? Is this what our teamwork supposed to look like? Full of lies and pretense and not telling one another important things?" Rei asked.

Her questions felt like licks of a whip against Ami's skin, and the calmness in Rei's voice made it all the more painful. She'd known that she would've felt guilty for the rest of her life if she'd never given the Shitennou a second chance. However, that didn't stop her from feeling ashamed once she was facing the actual accusations of lying to her friends.

Taking in a deep breath, she opened her mouth. "Rei-chan."

She tried her best not to flinch when Rei trained her violet eyes on her.

"I admit that it was … unwise to not let the three of you know that the Shitennou are back to life. However … when I met with Kyosuke-san—that's Kunzite's name this lifetime—I … he was different from the man we'd fought, the man who'd helped Metallia and Beryl. He reminded more of the man I'd first met in the gardens of Terra in our past lives."

"The man who'd decided to believe Beryl's lies," Rei said.

"They were foolish back then, but it … didn't feel right sending them to their deaths for their stupidity," Ami replied.

"May I remind you that their stupidity was what cost us our lives, our Princess's life, and the whole of Silver Millennium?" Rei asked.

"Be that as it may, Usagi-chan would've wanted to give them a second chance," Ami said. "And besides, if Kyosuke-san had wanted to, he could've killed me that night."

Rei froze. After a second, she sighed. "That's debatable. Your attacks are much stronger now."

Ami smiled. "But he doesn't know that, and he didn't try to attack me." She tilted her head to one side. "Though he did threaten to do so if I weren't willing to talk."

"He's just bluffing," Minako spoke up, waving her hand and rolling her eyes. "Not counting the time when he's under the control of Metallia, of course, but he's a big, grouchy teddy bear who needs to be kept away from the diplomacy table because he doesn't know how to speak to people to save his life."

"So you figured you'll just snuggle with the big teddy bear to get Ace out of prison?" Rei snarked.

"Rei-channnn!" Minako whined, scuttling towards Rei.

"Go away. I'm still cross with you," Rei said, attempting to push the blonde away from her.

"You know you love me," Minako said, hugging Rei around the shoulders despite her protests.

"That's 'loved', past tense," Rei scoffed, still trying to struggle out of Minako's grasps.

"I'll awaken that love again if it's the last thing I do!" Minako cried dramatically before trying to kiss Rei.

"Go away, you annoying twit," Rei growled.

Ami bit down on her lower lip to avoid laughing and thus having to face Rei's wrath. After a short while, she opened her mouth again. "All kidding aside, I'm sorry I've kept their return a secret."

Makoto scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry we didn't call earlier, too, Rei-chan." She sighed. "It's just that … everything happened so suddenly. I hadn't expected to see him again, and … those three days were just chaotic. I was trying to figure out if … if he was real or not. Not just if he was really alive or not but if he was trying to lie to me, so he just took me to Elysion, and reception isn't exactly stellar there."

"Elysion?" Ami asked in surprise.

Makoto shrugged. "He said something about it being the sacred place of Terra, and if he were still under the control of darker powers, he wouldn't have been allowed there." When she saw Rei opening her mouth, she quickly added, "I know that there's still the possibility that he could be swayed before he accepts darker powers. But … he knows we aren't his enemies this lifetime. There had been a lot of distrust in our past lives. Even before the Terrans were brainwashed, there were still suspicions and disbelief between us and the Terrans."

"They've accepted that Usagi-chan will become queen, and they are willing to swear the same loyalty to her as they will swear to Mamoru-san, once they'd redeemed themselves," Minako said, still hugging Rei.

"They're not exactly one to keep their words," Rei protested.

"Perhaps," Minako said, tilting her head to one side. "But we're not the same girls we were before. Back then, we had ignored the signs of distrust and suspicions. But we won't this time around. If there are any signs of betrayal … we know what to do."

Though she was smiling, there was a hint of sadness and determination in Minako's voice. Rei's expression softened as she clasped Minako's forearm with one free hand.

"Even if you'll be heartbroken again?" she asked.

"A million heartbreaks will be worth with it as long as Usagi-chan is safe," Minako said with a smile. "But Queen Serenity sent us here for a second chance, and I don't want to give up on that just because of fear. Not to mention why do you think Usagi-chan is always worried that we're sacrificing our love lives for her?"

"But we're not!" Rei protested.

"Of course we're not," Minako said. "Even if we don't end up in relationships with the Shitennou, I still think it will be a good idea to have a good relationship with Mamoru-san's guardians."

"You can't be certain that Mamoru-san would want them back," Rei said.

"Oh please. You're talking about Mamoru-san here. I'll be surprised if he doesn't have tears in his eyes when he welcomes them back," Minako said with a roll of her eye.

In the end, Rei sighed and nodded. "Fine. I won't kill them on sight. Good enough for you?"

"Excellent," Minako said.

"And no more lies between the four of us, especially when it concerns important issues like former enemies coming back to life," Rei added, to which Ami and Makoto immediately nodded.

"No more lies," Minako promised with a smile before she kissed Rei on the cheek. She then stood up with her eyes narrowed. "And now if you would excuse me, I have score to set up. I can't **_believe_ **Kyo-chan didn't tell me that Ami-chan knew he was back to life!"

~-0-~


	4. Epilogue

**A/N** : Huge thanks to all of you who've reviewed, added to alerts, and faved. Hope you'll enjoy the next and final chapter of this story. The next chapter will be a doc where I'll be answering all anon reviews, so the anons won't have to travel to other sites to find a reply to their reviews. :)

* * *

 **Epilogue**

To say that the atmosphere was awkward was an understatement. It wasn't as if Ami hadn't noticed Unazuki and Motoki whispering amongst one another or the couple of times Motoki wanted to approach their table but decided against it after taking a look at Rei's expression.

To be fair, Ami couldn't really blame Motoki. She was certain Rei's gaze was probably sharper than the knives they had in the kitchen. It was rather amazing that Junya managed to maintain that calm exterior while being at the end of one of those looks from Rei.

They had chosen to put together two tables. Kyosuke sat at one end of the table, while the rest of the Shitennou sat on one side and the girls on the other, leaving two seats for Mamoru and Usagi.

Though Masato and Makoto could be quite talkative, the discomfort was so potent in the air that they remained stoically silent. Usually, Minako would be one of the two people who would break the ice; however, she opted to remain quiet, staring at her drink as if it were the most interesting thing in the world as she stirred up unknown pictures in it with the straw. Kyosuke sat next to her with his eyes closed, as if he were either sleeping or meditating. Nevertheless, Ami had the sharp feeling that if anyone were foolish enough to attack him, they would be in for a nasty shock.

The other person who could be expected to chat up a storm was **_him_** , but for some reason, he decided to stare out the window and keep his mouth shut as well.

Inoue Teruo.

That was the name Kyosuke had introduced him with. Somehow, she couldn't decide whether to ignore him like he had ignored everyone else or if she should try talking to him. Either way felt awkward for her.

Seeing all four of them sitting here was strange, to say the least. She should feel uncomfortable, but somehow, she didn't. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that despite the ridiculous situation she had run into because of the one time Kyosuke couldn't keep his calm, she had come to believe that they were different from the people who'd chosen to unknowingly betray their planet.

The sounds of the sliding doors opening caught their attention, and Rei's glare flickered, softening when they landed on their Princess.

"Hi, everyone!" Usagi exclaimed before she bounced over to counter. "Motoki onii-san! Can I have a hot fudge double chocolate cherry sundae?"

Relief washed over Motoki's face upon seeing Usagi. "Sure! Two of them?"

"Can I have one now and the other one later?' she asked with a bright smile.

"Of course!" Motoki answered. He took a glance at Mamoru before deciding against waving his greetings to him.

Because Mamoru wouldn't have noticed him.

The Shitennou noticeably stiffened upon their arrival, even Teruo, who was pretending to look out the window, and Kyosuke who finally opened his eyes but didn't turn his head to look.

None of the Shitennou dared to look behind their backs.

But somehow, Mamoru had recognized them. Perhaps it was the same way the Senshi would always feel a connection to their Princess, in one way or another.

Seconds passed with Usagi oblivious to the situation behind her while she waited for her sundae. She chirped out a "Thank you" to Motoki and turned around with that brilliant smile still etched on her face before noticing that Mamoru hadn't taken a step from the place she'd left him after they'd entered the store.

She tilted her head to one side before her eyes followed his gaze to the table the Senshi and the Shitennou were sitting in.

"Oh!"

Much to their surprise, she skipped forward, grabbed Mamoru by the arm, and pulled him towards the table.

"You're back!" she exclaimed excitedly towards the Shitennou.

Everyone stared at her.

"You knew?" Rei asked in disbelief.

Usagi blinked at her in confusion. "About what?"

"You knew that they were back to life?" Rei amended her question.

"Of course not!" Usagi replied, plopping down on the seat at the end of the table while Mamoru gingerly walked over to the last seat at the table.

Masato, who was sitting in the seat next to his, visibly stiffened before he stood up as one would when they were to meet their liege.

Makoto groaned while Kyosuke sighed.

"Sit down, you oaf," Teruo muttered.

Masato shot him a glare before slinking down into his seat again, almost as if he wanted to disappear out of embarrassment.

"Then why did you say …?" Ami trailed off.

Usagi shrugged. "I'd suspected they should've been reincarnated, so to speak. Remember when I made that wish that everything would return to normal? I had wondered if that would mean if the Shitennou would've been given a second chance, too, after I remembered them being Mamo-chan's guardians."

She grew more uncertain with each word as she took in the unreadable expression on Mamoru's face. He wasn't saying anything, nor was he looking at Usagi. Ami couldn't tell if he was angry or happy, and from the looks the Shitennou were sporting, they weren't certain either.

"Mamo-chan …" Usagi placed her hand gently on his arm.

As if he had been a trance, he snapped out of it and gazed at her, a soft warmth in his eyes. Putting his hand on hers, he gave it a squeeze before he looked back at the Shitennou, renewed determination in his eyes.

"Since you've contacted the girls first, I'm assuming that suspicions and mistrust had been discussed and resolved," he said.

"Mamo-chan …" Usagi called out again, though this time a small frown accompanied her words.

"Your Highness …" Masato started to say.

"Making him suspicious isn't the best way to put yourself in his good graces," Rei hissed after she checked around to make sure that nobody had heard him.

"We realized … we acknowledge that we were wrong, and we are greatly ashamed for what had happened," Kyosuke finally spoke up. "We had thought that what we were doing was for the well-being of our home. We hadn't realized that by doing so, we were moving even further away from our initial goals. While we had good intentions, there was no excuse for the wavering of our loyalties to you, of what we had sworn. We had hoped that we would be able to redeem ourselves in some way or another before we approached you and asked for your forgiveness, but … due to unforeseen circumstances—"

Rei made a loud disparaging noise upon hearing this, causing a pink tinge to appear on Kyosuke's cheekbones. Mamoru glanced at her, surprise and curiosity swimming in his eyes. However, he quickly managed to hide his emotions behind an indifferent mask once more.

"... At the end of the day, we are here in front of you now. We dare not ask for your forgiveness. We merely wish to have one last chance to prove our loyalty to you, to serve as your protectors, and pay for our sins while earning your trust once more. This time, we swear upon our lives that we will not fail you again," Kyosuke said.

Mamoru didn't immediately answer. His deep blue eyes were tumultuous with uncertainty and fear. The same emotions were mirrored on each and every Shitennou's faces.

The motion was small, but Usagi slid her hand downwards and grab hold of Mamoru's. He gazed at her again, and something unseen, unknown to others passed between them. For the first time since he walked through the doors of the store, he smiled. It was a bittersweet smile, filled with regret and sorrow, but it also held the tiniest bit of hope and longing, as if he had just encountered something that would make his memories into reality.

After another short while, he swallowed and looked at his Shitennou once more. "We were young back then. While I can't say it didn't hurt me that you'd chosen to believe in Beryl's words rather than mine, I can understand what the four of you were thinking. Jadeite, Zoisite, and I always looked up to you, and you always saw us as children. I could understand that you saw me as a young boy losing his mind because of love."

Rei crossed her arms over her chest and gave Kyosuke a judging look, making him shift in his seat.

Minako saw this interaction and shrugged. "He thought that he was much more in control of himself."

For some unknown reason, Makoto giggled upon hearing this. Her face reddened as she muttered "Sorry, sorry!"

"At the end of the day," Mamoru said, steering the conversation back, "we've all done something wrong because of bad circumstances, and we've all done something we regret later on. I will be a terrible hypocrite if I didn't allow you a second chance."

"You mean …" Masato breathed out, his eyes wide with disbelief, fear, and just a spark of hope.

"As Endymion, I regret that I hadn't managed to gain your confidence, and I regret that I hadn't managed to persuade you to believe in Serenity and the others. In retrospect, perhaps I should've tried different methods. But like I've said, we were young and naive. The only thing that had mattered was getting our points across and getting things our way. We, including myself, hadn't sat down and thought of different methods with which to put one another's minds at ease, which made it all that much easier for Beryl to persuade you," Mamoru said. A small smile appeared on his face. "But as Endy, I'm glad that you are back. I'm glad that Queen Serenity has granted us the chance to try again, to not repeat our mistakes. We have the experience now, and I hope that my trust will be well-placed this time around."

"Master …" Junya breathed out.

"No kneeling in public, please," Rei said with her lips barely moving when she saw Masato making the move to get out of his seat.

Masato stopped moving and huffed out a sigh of resignation.

"We're in a new era right now … though I suppose we'll be in another one soon enough. Please, do call me by my name in public. I'm known as Chiba Mamoru this lifetime," Mamoru said.

"We don't deserve your forgiveness yet, Mas—Mamoru-san," Kyosuke said, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Mamoru shrugged and gave Usagi a smile. "Prove me correct then."

Usagi gave out a squeal. "I'm so happy for you, Mamo-chan!"

She gave him an enormous hug while Rei snapped her fingers for her to keep it down.

"You're going to make everyone look at us," Rei hissed.

Usagi giggled. "But they're done talking about you-know-what. And I'm just so happy that Mamo-chan got his brothers back." She turned towards the Shitennou. "So … we have so much to catch up on! I know you probably want to have some alone time with Mamo-chan, but I think we should at least know your names first!"

~-0-~

Night had fallen over the city of Tokyo by the time Usagi's supply of questions got exhausted—though to be honest, Ami couldn't be certain if she was truly finished. However, they stayed nearly half an hour after the closing time of Fruits Parlor Crown, and Ami had to remind them that Motoki and Unazuki still had to close up the store. Nonetheless, it still took another ten minutes in front of Game Center Crown before Usagi reluctantly gave up chatting with her newly acquired best friends.

It was almost like watching a magic show to Ami, when she saw how each and every one of the Shitennou relax while they talked with Usagi, and she thought she heard Masato curse when he realized that it was far too late and they couldn't continue their meetup.

"It was nice meeting you, Kyosuke-chan, Teruo-chan, Masato-chan, and Junya-chan! Let's have a picnic this weekend!" Usagi turned her head around to call out to them as she walked down the sidewalk with her arm looped around Mamoru's.

"It will be our pleasure," Kyosuke answered.

"We'll bring lots and lots of food!" Usagi said.

"She knows how to cook?" Junya asked, surprised while the others either nodded and answered with "okay".

"Oh yes. We'll make sure to reserve the dishes she cook especially for **_you_ **," Rei replied.

Junya answered with a placid smile which seemed to make Rei narrow her eyes.

Minako cleared her throat and gave Rei a warning glance. "Anyway, now that we know where we stand, you should probably attend our weekly meetings which sometimes turn into practice to increase our fluidity as a group. There's no immediate threats right now, but every once in a green moon, we still get small troubles, and a rope is only as strong as its weakest knot after all."

Masato snorted at Minako's complete butchering of adages and idioms. He opened his mouth to say something, but when Kyosuke fixed him with a look of calm and mild interest, he snapped it close again.

"So what day do you usually meet up on?" Junya asked.

"We usually work around Ami's schedule, since she's working at the hospital," Makoto replied. "Minako-chan usually sends a text message to all of us at the beginning of the week."

After they'd given Minako their phone numbers, Rei spoke up.

"Well, if that is all, I'll be heading home now."

Junya immediately excused himself as well, his destination surprisingly (or rather, unsurprisingly) in the same direction that Rei was heading towards.

"He's going to get himself burned," Makoto commented. Tilting her head to one side, she added, "Again."

"I'm not particularly surprised," Kyosuke replied with a barely noticeable shrug.

"It was going to happen sooner or later. You know what they say, early chickens get the corn, so he might as well get cracking," Minako said.

Masato's urge to correct her was again stopped by Kyosuke's rather seemingly friendly stare.

After Minako and Kyosuke left, Masato slung his arm around Ami's shoulders while he grabbed hold of Makoto's hand with his other hand. The narrowing of Teruo's eyes was so fleeting that Ami wondered if it had been her imagination or if it was her memories from the Silver Millennium playing tricks on her mind.

"It's too late for you to go home by yourself, pixie. Mako-chan and I will take you home so that you won't be snatched away by dangerous men," Masato said.

Ami though about reminding him that she **_was_ **the Senshi of Mercury and therefore there weren't many men who could snatch her away. However, she knew that it was his way of showing care towards her, and so she nodded with a small smile.

And of course, it would give something for Makoto to talk about and give Rei a better impression of the Shitennou as a whole.

"Thank you," she replied.

It took her a short moment, after Masato started leading her away, that Ami recalled she had forgotten to say good-bye to Teruo. It wasn't common for her to forget her manners. During their whole meeting, she had grown accustomed to his silence, forgotten about the contrasting feelings of wanting and not wanting to talk to him, but now, it all came back to her in a rush.

She whipped her head around to look at him and found him still standing there, facing towards their direction. He had his back to a light source, so she couldn't quite make out his expression, but it was almost as if he had a shroud of loneliness and vulnerability. Her lips parted, but suddenly, she didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry about him," Masato spoke up.

Ami looked at him and he gave her a smile.

"I'll be the first to admit that he's a difficult one to deal with, but judging from experience, I'd say that sooner or later, you'll have him at your beck and call again," Masato said.

"Masato!" Makoto slapped him on his arm as a furious blush appeared on Ami's face.

"What? It's true," Masato said. "He couldn't keep his eyes off her."

"T-that's not true!" Ami sputtered.

"Of course it is," Masato said. "He's staring at you whenever he thinks you aren't looking."

"H-he kept his eyes on Mamoru-san," Ami protested.

"Ah-ha! So you were looking at him, too," Masato said.

"Stop teasing her," Makoto said, slapping him on his arm.

"I'm not! I just want them to be happy," Masato said.

"Just let them work things out first," Makoto said with a sigh. "I don't think either of them is ready yet."

"Knowing him, he's more than ready. He just doesn't know if she's ready, so he's trying to play it safe for now," Masato said with a shrug. "Watch him pretend to be a Casanova again once he knows she's interested."

"That's not exactly the best comparison there, Masato-chan," Makoto said with a frown. "Didn't Casanova have a lot of lovers?"

"... True," Masato said, scowling, too. However, it disappeared the next second. "But you get the gist of what I'm saying. Watch him try to butter her up, shower her with affections, and—"

"Please, stop," Ami squeaked.

The images his words brought to her mind made her face burn. She didn't even want to imagine if it were to come true. A small voice at the back of her mind reminded her that it did happen in the past and that she didn't necessarily find it as horrifying as she would've thought it would be. She promptly attempt to shove that voice into the farthest, dark corners of her mind.

"That's enough for now, Masato-chan," Makoto said, shooting him warning look.

"Fine, don't believe me," Masato said.

"I believe you, but you're putting Ami-chan under too much pressure," she pointed out.

"Hey!" Masato said, stopping in his tracks and placing a hand on top of Ami's head. He looked at her straight in the eye. "If you ever, ever get annoyed by Teruo's antics, you tell me straight away. Got it?"

She stared at him in surprise. The shock from Makoto's face, on the other hand, soon melted into a soft smile and what was probably synonymous to heart eyes.

"I mean it," Masato said seriously. "He's like a brother to me, but I'm not allowing him to pester and upset you." A grin appeared on his face. "I know what you're thinking, and I know you can probably whip his ass before he knows what happened to him, but it'll probably be less shocking to the general public for a big bear of a man to beat him into a pulp rather than a dainty, little thing like you."

Ami and Makoto laughed upon hearing his words, and it took them a small while to control their laughter.

With her eyes still glistening with mirth, Ami nodded. "I will. Thank you."

He patted her on the head again with a satisfied look before swinging his arm around her shoulder again.

She didn't know which part it was, but the conversation had somehow broken down the boulder that she hadn't known had been on top of her heart. With a lighter gait in her steps and renewed confidence for the future, she continued home with Masato and Makoto.

Somehow, she had a gut feeling that things would eventually work out in the future.

~-0-~

 _Fin._


	5. Anonymous Review Replies

**Chapter 1**

James Birdsong: Thanks for the compliment, reading, and reviewing!

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 **Chapter 2**

Guest: LOL! I totally undertstand that sentiment. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

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 **Chapter 3**

James Birdsong: Thanks for the compliment, reading, and reviewing!

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 **Epilogue**


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